I’m not usually a customer of Deseret Books. If I buy books at all, I tend to get them from Amazon, because Amazon does not require me to argue with multiple small children about what we will not be getting. But someone gave me a gift certificate for Deseret Books and Patches has a birthday on Saturday, so I found a time when I could go solo on a trek through Deseret Books.
Deseret Books is the publishing and retail bookstore aimed at the Mormon* market. I am a practicing Mormon and so in theory this store should be a very comfortable place for me. It was not. I was barely three steps into the place when my discomfort came to my attention. Discomfort is perhaps too harsh a word. “Unease” might be better. It is a large store, full of things that were all beautifully arranged, and very little of it interested me. While I was in a bookstore, I wanted to peruse adult science fiction and fantasy books. Deseret Books had none that I could find. They had a nice YA section for those genres, but nothing for grown-ups. I wandered through the store, noting what was there, and what was not. There was a large section of non-fiction, hundreds of sets of scriptures and scripture cases in every hue of the rainbow, a craft section with fabric and scrapbooking stuff, and lots of religiously themed home decor. I did find a game that Patches will be thrilled to have for his birthday.
It was only after I left that I was able to identify the source of my unease about Deseret Books. It was as if I the store was trying to tell me “you are Mormon, these are the things which should interest you” and the corollary to that “if you are not interested in these things, you must not be a good Mormon.” I know that these words are internal. They spring from the back of my brain. They are reinforced by the fact that products from this store are in near constant use by Mormon friends and neighbors around me. I see them at church, in homes, even as bumper stickers on cars. Sometimes I find the products beautiful and appropriate. Other times I am repulsed by the kitchy sugary-ness.
I feel conflicted about my negative reactions to these products because the values and lessons promoted by the products are good ones. I also feel conflicted because I know so many wonderful people who love Deseret Books and all of its products. I see the value, the good things that can be gained, but the expression is different from what I would choose. I firmly believe in the powerful and moving message that we are all children of God who loves and cares for us. I just boggle a little when the majesty of that message is made cute with cartoon characters. Yes children need the lessons simplified, but I wonder why we are afraid to teach them about eternity without trying to make it friendly first. I wonder if it is because we believe that they won’t understand, or if we as adults are trying to make ourselves more comfortable.
I am aware that some of my reaction is simply my drive to not follow the herd. I have always been an independent person and the fact that “everyone is doing it” makes me want to go do something else instead. I wonder if I would feel differently about Deseret Book if I did not live in the highest population density of Mormons in the world. Perhaps if the products of Deseret Books were not so omnipresent, I would look on them more favorably.
Fortunately Deseret Books is not the one true path to Mormon culture. The church owned distribution center has a very different feel to it. I love going there. It has no home decor, no craft section, no fiction. The distribution center is devoted to providing the lesson manuals, scriptures, and pictures necessary to teaching ourselves, and each other, about the messages of the Mormon religion. The distribution center has things that are peaceful, beautiful, joyful and not a single thing that is cute. When I need things to assist me in practicing or learning about my religion, I go to the distribution center.
More than once I have heard people who were not raised Mormon, express that they feel disconnected from Mormon culture. I suspect that when they say so, they are seeing the “Deseret Books” version of Mormon culture. But that is a stereotype and it only represents the smallest slice of those who are Mormon. Every congregation I’ve ever belonged to, has had amazing, faithful, people who were culturally outside the stereotype. Religions and Cultures definitely inspire each other, but they are not the same thing. It is possible (although not necessarily easy) to be fully invested in one while not participating in the other.
* “Mormon” is the colloquial name for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
About a year and a half ago I walked into the Deseret Books in the Orem mall.
I …got about the same impression you did.
Vorn
Kitish verses Reality.
I know what you mean about feeling out of place in Desert Book.
Of coarse I was an inactive member Angry at God until my new Home Teacher showed up wearing a Star Trek Fan Club Jacket. He showed me it was Okay to be me and Mormon at the same time.
Ona
I’ve had that feeling quite often (although not with Mormonism… just general Christianity). The fault does not entirely lie with the store, however.
So often, religious companies — or, rather, companies that cater to religious themes — are socially forced into being holier-than-thou. If that bookstore included significant works that were not specifically Mormon, I can virtually guarantee that the more “hardcore fundamentalist” style Mormons would look down on the store and possibly refuse to shop there.
I went to a school that represented over 80 denominations of Christianity; in order to keep things going, they usually have to set their standards to match the most conservative ones. It’s unfortunate for the school in terms of “advertising” to get more folks in… but it prevents accusations of being “unChristian” from the more vocal membership.
Oh, excellent point! I hadn’t been visualizing that social pressure, but it is totally there.
“Religions and Cultures definitely inspire each other, but they are not the same thing. It is possible (although not necessarily easy) to be fully invested in one while not participating in the other.”
I’ve thought about this a lot. Sometimes I watch the Spanish Ward practicing a cultural dance together, or read about other cultures and their traditions… I’ve always longed for some sort of handed down culture and traditions. But, I don’t have that… a “culture”.
Many generations ago I had family come to America from other countries, but, I don’t have any of their recipes for ethnic foods or their traditions in my possession. However they all came to America then to Utah as Pioneers … so, I’ve often thought that Mormon IS my culture.
We joke about Jello and Funeral Potatos and Enrichment Meetings, etc.
but, when I think about it, any traditions I have come from church or are based on the gospel.
As far as I can tell, that is my cultural heritage.
Now, I agree with you on the Deseret books too. Moderation in ALL things is what we believe. We also believe in Free Agency and that we are all unique children of our Heavenly Father.
How boring it would be if we were all the same? So, I agree with you, Deseret Book is not bad, if you love it great! if not, you don’t have to go there… and it doesn’t make you bad if you don’t like it… just different and that’s just fine.
Oh you definitely have a culture, you’re part of American culture and Mormon culture and Utah culture and Geek culture. You just can’t see it because you’re surrounded by it. Fish don’t think about the water that they are swimming in.
This is one of the good things about travel or contact with people of other cultures/beliefs. It helps us to see the assumptions we make about what is normal.
You’re right, I forgot about Geek Culture… : )
There’s just not very many of us Geeky people around here…
you’re right I can’t see what I’m swimming in.
But, you know what I’m talking about right? The dancing, food, traditional culture of people from other countries… America in general doesn’t really have a “this is our people’s traditional dance” and “this is our traditional food” type of things… we can adopt those things from other cultures and make them our own, but, we are not taught these things from our parents who learned from their parents, who learned from their parents…etc.
Traditions for Holidays is the closest we come to that, and my family didn’t have very many traditions. We’ve had to come up with a lot of our own family traditions.
Can you see what I mean?
You might be surprised.
When I first came to Germany, people always asked me what the traditional foods of America were, and I had no answer for them. But now that I’ve lived here for a while, and I know what distinguishes European eating habits from American ones, I have a whole slew of answers: Chocolate chip cookies, fried chicken, apple pies, and cheeseburgers are all distinctly American foods from a European’s perspective.
So I wouldn’t be surprised if the ‘traditional culture’ you see in people from other countries is really a similar phenomenon–people banding together to enjoy the small subset of their culture which isn’t readily available in the US and hence has become labeled as typically [insert culture name here].
Sandra,
Thanks for writing about this! I feel very much the same way whenever I go into Deseret Book. I can’t even stand to look at the mailer they send out periodically. I swear they deliberately promote the idea that “if only your home had all these books and CDs, you could be a more faithful, more celestial Mormon.” I feel slightly guilty sometimes for resenting the cultural pressure but at the same time, I judge harshly the materialist vehicles through which it flows. Since when did ANY prophet (or Christ himself) use any material object (other than the scriptures) to teach the gospel? I have even resisted hanging a framed copy of the Proclamation in my home (gasp!) which I think makes me some kind of heretic around here. I love the Proclamation, but I see the way it’s treated as a kind of status symbol or decorating device and I balk.
Obviously you’ve touched a nerve. Maybe I should vent on my own blog 🙂
Thanks!
Julie
“I wonder if I would feel differently about Deseret Book if I did not live in the highest population density of Mormons in the world. Perhaps if the products of Deseret Books were not so omnipresent, I would look on them more favorably.”
I doubt you chanage your mind. I never been a big fan of Desert Book and I haven’t seen one for 3 or 4 years.
Desert Book is a niche market for Mormons. It targets that market.
It’s a niche market for a very specific type of Mormon. Not all of us fit the frilly Molly Mormon mold. I’ve been rebelling against it for years, the mold not the Church itself. I don’t do cutesy decorating projects for my home, I have an orc head on my wall and space pictures in my bathroom. I don’t read Mormon Romance, I read SF/F. I don’t sew cute clothes for my kids, I sew Star Trek uniforms for them and monster costumes for work. I make dishes with names like Gorilla Poops and Eyeball Soup and bring them to ward dinners. If you glance at the surface you might think, “Completely Molly Mormon.” But look deeper and you will see that the surface doesn’t tell the whole story. Kind of like sharks…
~squid
Isn’t it nice that religion and culture are separable? I can hang dragons on my walls and still be a good mormon.